An Alarming, Harsh Brand Of Justice

OPINION

Here was this intelligent, articulate retiree trying to enlist the Lake Sentinel's help - to lobby state and federal officials for tougher laws against the sale and use of drugs.

He was 78, well-groomed and a resident of a large mobile home community. He said he spoke for many others in his park.

Drug abuse is destroying the United States, he said. Drug addiction not only injures and kills users but also leads to burglaries, robberies and crimes of unspeakable violence.

Drug abuse is a cancer that eventually will destroy American society, he said.

So far, so good, I thought. Senior citizens are especially vulnerable to break-ins, burglaries and robberies. I sympathize. My mother, who lives in a mobile home park, often has expressed similar fears.

Then the man told me how America should solve this epidemic: A multinational hit squad should be formed to kill drug kingpins, terrorists, international kidnappers and the like.

Once the evildoers were identified - this is still my visitor talking - the hit squad would act as judge, jury and executioner, no questions asked. Because the hit squad would be international in composition, heads of state could easily deny or deflect responsibility.

For America's users and middle-level pushers, the retiree had another solution he considered both efficient and effective: First, these people should be branded with a large ''D'' - for Drugs - on the back of their necks. This would forever identify them.

Then, he said, regardless of the severity of the drug offense conviction - 2 grams of pot or 200 pounds of heroin - the users and pushers would be immediately and permanently exiled.

It was the man's utter sincerity that appalled me.

On other national issues - economics, the medical crisis, the arms race - he spoke with perspective and considerable insight. But on drug abuse he was beside himself.

Incarceration simply wouldn't do. Branding, exile and execution were the only judicial tools remaining that would eliminate America's drug problem. Current law be damned, he said.

While I seriously doubt this gentleman's views on punishing drug abusers are shared by the vast majority of Lake County's 60,000 retirees, I think his fears and frustrations are.

That's especially disquieting when you consider that Lake's two leading drug enforcement agencies - the sheriff's office and the 5th Circuit Narcotics Task Force - have been fighting each other lately almost as much as those who are dealing these drugs on our streets, and now the task force is on its way out.

THE MORE THINGS change, the more they stay the same.

Today's rallying cry for a better Lake County is more and better jobs. Current wisdom suggests that, while jobs remain plentiful in Lake's transformation from an agricultural to a service-oriented economy, those positions are low-paying and offer little if any medical and retirement benefits.

What is needed, our leaders say, is industry and manufacturing that will provide solid, full-time work at a decent wage.

Like I said, little has changed.

In 1974, when citrus was king and well before the back-to-back freezes of the early 1980s, a survey of Clermont residents concluded that industrial development should be the city's top priority.

One of every two residents responding to a chamber of commerce survey said Clermont could benefit most from small, clean industry. That survey spurred the chamber's industrial committee to redouble its efforts to recruit such businesses.

The second-ranking priority? A third of the residents surveyed said expanding the city's recreational facilities was the number one priority.

Further development of Jaycee Beach topped the recreation list, followed by bicycle paths, a swimming pier, hiring a recreation director, more Little League and softball facilities, opening a teen center and building a bandshell.

What goes around, comes around. Just this year, Clermont and Lake's other cities were beating on the county commission's door for more money.

What were they asking for? You guessed it - greater county participation to relieve overburdened municipal recreation programs.